Plowshare and method of forming a wear-resistant nose and cutting edge thereon



PLOWSHARE AND METHOD OF FORMING A WEAR RESISTANT NOSE AND CUTTING EDGE THEREON Filed Sept. 11, 1930 Sept. 4, 1934. c JONES 1,972,192

9 INVENTOR BY 5 A TTORNEYS Patented Sept. 4, 1934 UNITED STATES PATET @FFHQE EDGE THEREON laul C. Jones, Freeport, N. Y., assignor to Haynes Stellite Company, a corporation of Indiana -Application September 11, 1930, Serial No. 481,285

1i) Claims.

My invention relates to plowshares having a margin of wear-resistant metal applied to the nose and cutting edge'of the share to improve the wearing and operating qualities of the share.

The severing edges of a plowshare comprising the edge of the nose and the cutting edge along the bottom of the wing are subjected to the most rapid Wear. The life of the plowshare is thereforedependent upon the ability of these edges to resist wear and thereby retain their original shape, in order to maintain the correct slope and sharpness of the nose and cutting edge and the desirable bottom and side suction. The maintenance of these characteristics during the life of the share greatly improves the operative qual ities of the share by reducing the friction of the share against the soil and in maintaining the share at the desired depth in the soil. The life of the share is also dependent upon the strength of the body portion of the share and its ability to withstand impact, such as is encountered in rocky soils. I

It has been proposed to protect the nose and cutting edge of the share by the use of hardened steel plates attached to the top', or top and bottom, of the share along the portions to be protected. These plates are difficult to retain in place and they also prevent the share from scouring properly asa depression is necessarily formed in the upper surface of the share in rear of the upper edge of the plate due to wear at that pont. When plowing in sticky soil, dirt clogs in the depression and increases the friction of the share in passing through the soil. I

It has also been proposed to make a plowshare having a harder severing edge integral therewith. For example, it has been proposed to roll, forge or cast integrally the body portion and the severing edge portions out of the same material, such as steel or cast iron, and to harden these edge portions by heat-treating the forgeable steel or chilling the casting. Although a high degree of cold hardness may be attained in these ferrous metals by the use of these methods, they are not made wear-resistant within the meaning of the terrn used in this specification, because these metals do not retain the cold hardness at the much higher temperature produced on the surface of the metal due to the abrasion of the soil. Therefore, the edges of plowshares which have been hardened in accordance with the methods used heretofore have not efficiently withstood the abrasive effect of the soil and furthermore where the edge of the shares have been made very hard they have also been made brittle and 6. 1-

eterious stresses are liable to be set up in the metal which render it liable to be broken when under impact.

The principal object of my invention is to produce a plowshare having a body portion possessing the desired qualities. of strength and for scouring and having a strong nose and cutting edge of wear-resistant metal which is adapted to increase the life of the plowshare and to cause the plowshare' to be se1f-sharpening.

My invention will be more clearly understood by referring to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. I is an isometric View of the wing side of the share. I

Fig. II is an isometric view of the landside side of the share showing the share tilted upward at an angle of about 45 degrees.

Fig. III is a side elevation of the landside view of the plowshare in its operative position upon a support A.

In accordance with my invention the plowshare of the ordinary type is so treated that it is made to run four or five times longer than the usual run of an untreated share under the same conditions, and the operating qualities of the plowshare are improved during the life of its run. These improvements are accomplished by fusion welding to the forward edge of the nose and to the cutting edge of the share a margin or bead of a wear-resistant metal, that is, a metal which retains an eihcient degree of toughness and hardness at temperatures as high as 700 (3., such as the chromium, cobalt, tungsten alloy described in United States Patent No. 1,057,423. Before applying the wear-resistant metal to the nose and cutting edge of the share it is important that the body of the share is normally shaped in order that the share will have the necessary bottom and side suction, and that the nose and cutting edge will have the correct slope after the metal has been applied and finished.

Therefore, when it is desired to apply the wearresistant metal to a share that has been worn out of shape, it is important that the share be reshaped before the edge forming metal is applied.

In the event that either a reshaped or a correctly shaped new share is used the following procedure may be followed.

Referring to the drawing, grind the edge of the nose 1 perpendicularly until a blunt edge about one-eighth of an inch in width is formed along the edge 2 of the nose to provide a support for the nose metal to be welded thereto. Beginning at the forward edge of the nose grind a bevel of about 45 7 may interfere with the formation of a good weld will be removed from this surface.

Replace the metal removed from the edge of the nose 1 withan edge 4 of wear-resistant metalwhich may be fusion welded to the nose by depositing the metal from a welding rod. I prefer to make the weld with the use of the oxy-acetylene flame but it may be made with the electric arc. The deposited weld metal should be fiowed backward along the top and bottom surface of the base metal of the nose for about one-quarter of an inch.

Fusion weld a band 5 of the wear-resistant metal along the bottom surface of the cutting edge 3. The band of deposited metal should be about onehalf inch wide and about one-sixteenth inch thick.

The deposited metal should be deposited in as smooth a layer as is possible. When the oxyacetylene flame is used this may be done by smoothing the surface with the flame as the metal is deposited.

Sharpen the nose of the share with an emery wheel so that it will have the correct shape as in a new untreated share. Sharpen the cutting edge 3 by grinding its top surface. In grinding the nose 1 of the share care should be taken that the correct bottom suction 6 is provided such as is indicated by a slight upward curvature of the bottom surface of the wing 7 and landside 8 behind the front edge of the nose. Also, the correct side suction 9 should be provided such as is indicated by a slight inward curvature in the landside 8 in rear of the nose 1. The deposited metal should be deposited with sumcient smoothness as not to require grinding for that purpose, but if it is rough it may be smoothed off by grinding.

When the wear-resistant metal is deposited on the bottom only of the cutting edge of the plowshare, this edge is made self-sharpening due to the fact that the band of wear-resistant metal is thin and as its edge wears ofi, the soil wears away the softer body metal of the share and exposes more of the thin band of wear-resistant metal and thereby maintains the cutting edge in a sharpened condition until the wear-resistant metal is substantially used up by wear.

I have described the preferred form of my invention but this may be varied to suit the conditions of the soil. For example, where a share is to be used in a very rocky and abrasive soil which does not tend to stick to the share, the wear-resistant metal may be deposited upon the top cutting edge of the share or it may be deposited on both the top and bottom cutting edges of the share to protect the edge of the base metal of the share from the greater abrasive effect of the soil.

I claim: 1. A plow share comprising a metal body provided with a cutting edge and having a relativelynarrow band of metal of greater wear-resistance than said body welded adjacent to and along said edge only, the remaining major portions of both sides of said metal body being exposed to contact with the soil.

2. A plow share comprising a metal body hav ing a nose or point at its front end and a cutting edge extending lengthwise of said body rearwardly from said nose, and relatively narrow bands of metal of greater wear-resistance than said body welded to said nose and adjacent to and along said edge, the remaining major portions of both sides of said metal body being exposed to contact with the soil.

3. Aplow share comprising a metal body having a nose or point at its front end and a cutting edge extending lengthwise of said body rearwardly from said nose, and relatively narrow bands of' fusion-deposited metal of greater wearresistance than said body welded to both sides of said nose and to one side only of said body adjacent to and along said 'cutting edge, the remaining major portions of both sides of said metal body being exposed to contact with the soil.

4. A plowshare comprising a body portion of relatively soft metal and a cutting edge formed by a thin band of fusion deposited wear-resistant metal welded to the under surface of the share along said cutting edge. 1

5. A plowshare comprising a body portion of relatively soft metal, and a band of wear-resistant chromium-cobalt-tungsten alloy fusion welded to the top and bottom edge of the nose and along the bottom surface of the cutting edge only.

6. A method of forming a wear-resistant nose and cutting edge on a plowshare comprising fusion welding a band of wear-resistant metal to the edge of the nose and to the cutting edge of the plowshare by fusing said wear-resistant metal and marginal portions adjacent said nose and said cutting edge, and depositing such fused wearresistant metal along said marginal portions.

7. A method of forming a {self-sharpening,

wear-resistant cutting edge on a plowshare comprising fusion welding a-wear-resistant metal to the bottom portion of the cutting edge of the share only by fusing said wear-resistant metal and a marginal portion of said share along said bottom portion, and depositing such fused wearresistant metal along said marginal portion.

8. A method of forming a wear-resistant nose on a plow-share comprising removing a portion of the edge of the nose and building up this edge by fusion welding a wear-resistant metal thereto by fusing said wear-resistant metal and the edge of the body metal of said share, and depositing said fused wear-resistant metal on said edge.

9. A method of forming a wear-resistant nose metal welded to the lower edge thereof so as to constitute the cutting edge of the plowshare; the soft metal of said body portion being exposed to abrasion of the earth through which the plowshare is drawn.

- PAUL C. JONES 

